


Man's Best Friend

by spnfanatic



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Cursed Dean Winchester, Curses, Dog Dean Winchester, Gen, Human Castiel (Supernatural), Hurt Dean Winchester, M/M, Short Story, dog abuse, implied dog abuse, light Cas/Dean, season 5
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-24
Updated: 2020-02-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:54:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22873585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spnfanatic/pseuds/spnfanatic
Summary: Set somewhere in season 5. Castiel has fallen and is mostly human. He’s still trying to get used to being a part of team free will but it’s hard fitting in with the Winchesters when they’ve been hunting, just the two of them, all their lives. When Dean gets turned into a dog, however, it seems like it’s all fun and games. Then he gets kidnapped by a group of humans who force dogs to fight each other and suddenly it’s a race against time to save Dean.hurt Dean, light Cas/Dean
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 2
Kudos: 44





	Man's Best Friend

Stupid witch. He hated witches. They never did anything in the right order. It was a fairly simple case. In, out, go home, have a beer, celebrate another small victory, in the midst of the ever looming apocalypse. That was what was supposed to happen. Maybe toss in some porn for Cas’ benefit. God knew that angel needed to let loose once in a while. The tension in the air was so thick, Dean wasn’t sure how any of them were surviving without trying to rip each other apart.

But whatever, back to the witches. It was supposed to be a small victory in the grand scheme of things. Gank the witch. Go home and celebrate over beer and porn. That was Dean’s plan. But of course the witch decided to say fuck to the rules of the universe and curse Dean in her final moments. It was so stupid. She was going to be dead in minutes and she still had the strength to say three little words that changed Dean from a human…

It was funny at first. He’d concede to that. Even Dean had to laugh since there wasn’t really enough of that going around. And as far as curses went, this could’ve been much worse he supposed. Cas and Sam had to agree with him.

Dean was still a damn good hunter. In fact, probably better, since his nose could pick up on a lot more things than Sam could now. And he was faster and he didn’t need a knife to fuck monsters up since he got his own sets of claws. Although running on all fours instead of two legs was still weird to get used to.

And having a tail was also kind of weird too. And having his ears on top of his head...well he didn’t want to think about that. And sniffing butts and fire hydrants...yeah ok, so there were some downsides? 

Dean Winchester was turned into a dog.

And it was funny and harmless at first.

“Don’t worry, Dean,” Sam said on day 1. He was glancing from the open laptop to his brother and trying not to laugh as Dean growled at him, as if to say ‘yeah laugh it up now, bitch’. “I looked up the curse and it seems like it’ll wear off in a week.”

 _So we have to wait it out_? Dean couldn’t help as another growl rumbled out of him. He hadn’t been a dog for more than a few hours and he was already tired of sniffing fire hydrants and sticking his head out of the Impala.

Cas was sitting on the edge of one of the motel’s twin beds, the closest one to the window. He turned his head to Dean. “A week is not that long, Dean,” Cas assured him. Dean watched him from the floor. On instinct he lowered his head on his paws. Cas was their weird third wheel on the team. Caught between angel and human, Cas had some of his powers like reading minds and teleporting short distances, but since rebelling against Heaven, he lost the ability to smite.

Sam rolled his eyes. “Dude, you know growling like that only makes you look cuter. You’re a fluffy husky, not a doberman.”

Dean snorted. _Whatever, little bro_. He knew Sam couldn’t read his mind but he didn’t care. He just wanted to sleep the rest of the week. Hopefully they wouldn’t fall too behind on finding Lucifer. What was one measly little week in the end of the world?

The next couple days went by uneventfully. Sam decided to pay for the room another week with the cash he hustled the night prior. They thought about driving over to Bobby’s to wait it out and maybe that would’ve been the best thing to do in hindsight, but ultimately, all three of them decided Bobby already had a lot on his plate. He didn’t need dog Dean to care for on top of it all. So they stayed put.

Dean chased after balls and peed on more fire hydrants and barked at the mailman, much to the dismay of Dean and to the pleasure of Sam. Cas took it all in about how you would expect a former angel who wasn’t accustomed to human behavior, much less former human turned animal behavior. Confusion with a hint of amusement.

The third day was when it all went to hell.

Dean was going about his morning routine in playing fetch with Sam by the motel parking lot. Sam, of course, being Sam lobbed the ball a little too hard, a little too far, and Dean just going with his new dog instincts had to give chase.

Dean was riding the high of chasing the ball. His tongue was sticking out and he could feel drool sliding down his chin. He didn’t care though. He realized he should and he should’ve been more aware of his surroundings. The downsides of being a dog, right?

The van came out of nowhere and he didn’t notice anything wrong until it was too late and he felt his body impact on the windshield. He distantly heard his brother yell, “Dean!”

Then everything faded to black.

When he first woke up, he thought he was dreaming. It was dark and he was laying down on a cold floor. There were a lot of loud noises that made him whimper. They sounded like howling and barking and whining. He looked around him to see that he was a cage and there were other cages too. He could make out traces of dogs of all sizes and breeds, all scratching or leaning on the bars of their cages.

He lowered his head down, taking large gulps of air, feeling the dog collar wrapped around his neck. Before Dean could realize how deep shit he landed in, light flooded in as the door on the other side opened. Dean blinked slowly as someone walked in, examining all the dogs in their cages on his way to Dean.

Dean tried not to growl as the man crouched down so that he was eye level with Dean. He had short, black hair and narrowed, icy blue eyes. He smirked at Dean as he studied him. The man was probably in his late 30’s or early 40’s.

The man reached inside Dean’s cage to touch him. Dean bared his canines in warning, growling lowly. He didn’t need words to make the man understand the warning. He retracted his hand, though the smirk never left his face. “Well aren’t you an interesting one,” the guy murmured to himself.

Dean snorted, before lowering his head on his paws, watching the man carefully.

“It’s almost as if you can understand me.” _If only you knew_ , Dean thought. The guy lingered for a moment before standing up again. “Well I’ll come back for you in the morning. Sleep well, my friend.”

Somehow the last words sounded ominous and Dean stayed awake almost all night, freaking over what the guy meant by that.

Dog fighting apparently. It was illegal but people did it anyways. These guys were no exception and Dean had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. He didn’t want to fight other dogs but they didn’t give him a choice. The collar that was put on him wasn’t a regular collar. It was a goddamn shock collar.

If he made it out of this alive, he promised to himself he would never, ever abuse a dog. And if Sammy wanted a dog, he might be more willing to _consider_ it. As long as Sam took care of all the hair problem and fed it and watered it and took it out on walks and stuff of course.

Dean was currently watching Benny and Skipper, two doberman go at it in the makeshift arena. There were six guys, including the guy who visited Dean last night, standing around making bets and cheering. Dean was currently leashed up by his cage, wishing he could get away. They were down in someone’s basement, a room large enough to fit half a dozen big guys and half a dozen large dogs and cages. 

There was a pool table in the corner and a couch beside it and a coffee table in front of the couch. On top the table was an ashtray. It stank of cigarette smoke and Dean couldn’t help but whine. 

“Shut up,” Someone said.

But Dean couldn’t help it. It smelled bad and his nose was a lot more sensitive as a dog. One of the guys turned around, looking angry that he wouldn’t just shut up. He stomped over to Dean, took his cigarette out of his mouth and rubbed the butt of it on Dean’s nose. “I told you to shut up,” the man sneered as Dean cringed back. It hurt like crazy. The man then gripped his collar tightly, nearly choking Dean. “Next time you act up, you’re going to get another shock. Got it?”

He let go after a moment and Dean sank back down, miserable but unable to say anything. He watched with dull green eyes as the man finally left him to return to the evening’s entertainment. He couldn’t help but think he was going to be next after one of the doberman took the other out. 

It wasn’t another 15 minutes before the man who took him looked over to Dean and said, “Well you’re up next, Fido.”

He didn’t want to fight to the death. He hated being a dog.

-

It took Sam and Cas two whole days to track the son of bitch who took Dean from them. It would’ve been faster if Cas was still an angel. Since he was mostly human, they had to do it the old fashioned way of researching and linking everything together. Eventually they found the right address to a Jack Douglas, a 42 year old man who had been divorced for 5 years now. 

He owned a couple dogs or so the report said. What they found was more than just a couple. He easily had over a dozen kept in a room hidden under the stairs. They found Dean sleeping in a cage on the other side wearing a spiked collar. His fur was matted down with dried blood and dirt. When he heard them walk in, he opened one eye to look at them.

The other eye was swollen shut. Sam couldn’t hide his horror at the state of his brother. He rushed over to free Dean from the cage. “Hey Dean,” Sam said, opening the cage with the key he got from Douglas’ room.

 _It’s about time_ , Dean thought, glancing from his brother to Cas with his one good eye.

“Sorry it took so long,” Cas apologized.

Dean wanted to roll his eyes. Like it was their fault. At least Dean didn’t have to be here any longer. _Whatever. You’re here now_ , Dean said to Cas.

Cas nodded. “If we had come sooner though, we could have avoided this altogether.” He gestured at the state Dean was in.

Dean got up slowly with the help of his brother. _Yeah, well. Not like either of you have a time machine._

Sam looked from his brother to Cas, then back again. He sighed, wishing he knew the secret conversation that was happening right now. It was like listening to one side of a phone conversation. It was weird and slightly annoying. “We should take the collar off of Dean,” he said finally.

Cas nodded in agreement as he crouched down to inspect it. “It’s a shock collar,” he murmured.

 _Yeah. Remind me never to use these on dogs, like ever. It hurt like a motherfucker_. Dean winced in remembrance. _Speaking of...did you take care of them?_

Cas nodded. “Yes we did. You have nothing to worry about now, Dean.” He didn't know what Sam and Cas did to the guys when they found them, didn't need or care to know really.

 _Good_ , Dean said. He yawned widely. _Come on then, let’s get out of here. I hate this place. And I hate being a dog._ He looked over to Cas. _Next time we go and gank a witch, remind me to let you have the killing blow._

Cas smirked. “Oh I don’t know. Being a dog doesn’t seem to be so bad besides the whole barking at the mailman, playing fetch with your brother…”

 _Don’t finish that sentence_ , Dean warned, giving Cas a pointed look.

“Or sniffing my ass,” Cas said.

“Ok, TMI,” Sam murmured.

 _It’s a dog thing. I can’t help myself_ , Dean said, forgetting for a moment his brother couldn't hear him. Dammit.

**The End**


End file.
